The safest way for couples to keep intimate photos and videos private

The Risky Business of Making a Sex Tape

Pamela Anderson made two. Paris Hilton won an award for hers. It almost ruined Rob Lowe’s career. While Kim Kardashian built a career out of hers. Yep, we’re talking about the sex tape.

It seems anyone who is anyone has made a sex tape these days. It’s so mainstream, rom-com sweetheart, Cameron Diaz, made a film about it. So, it’s no wonder that for us average Joes, deciding to make a sex tape is as ordinary as deciding to order pizza on a Friday night.

The lure of the sex tape is not new. For many couples, it’s a way to revive the excitement in their relationship. Add to that our ever increasing narcissism, and the sex tape can be viewed as the ultimate selfie. But in the age of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, the risks have never been so high.

A report by the Economist into revenge porn in Japan alone, states that 27,334 cases were reported to police in 2012. The report goes on to say “the consequences for the unwitting subjects can be severe, including damage to their future relationships and careers… In the past couple of years several are known to have killed themselves”. This is a story we now hear all too often.

While the phrase ‘revenge porn’ is a relatively modern one, the act of distributing explicit photos of a third party has been around for decades. In the 1980s, Hustler magazine was sued by several women for publishing nude photos of them without their consent in a monthly feature titled “Beaver Hunt”. But the voracity with which revenge porn is now spreading across the world is frightening.

Last year, Israel became the first country to criminalise revenge porn. The Australian state of Victoria modified its sexting laws to prohibit the distribution of sexually explicit images of a third party. This was followed by the Philippines, and thirteen US states have also passed laws to criminalised ‘revenge porn’. European countries haven’t exactly followed suit, but many do boast broad privacy laws that could be applicable. While, anti-revenge porn legislation is just non-existent in the Arab world.

Moral of the story? Legislation is only just playing catch-up, leaving many victims vulnerable. Don’t get us wrong, we believe that making a sex tape with your partner can be fun and healthy for a relationship. But, if you want to spice up your relationship with a homemade porno, be wise about it. Do your research and take precautions. Unless, of course, you have fantasies of becoming the next Kim Kardashian or Tila Tequila.